Wanda Sykes ‘came out’ to parents in phone call

Wanda Sykes was so scared about revealing her sexuality to her parents, she broke the news to them in a “long distance phone call.”

The funny woman came out publicly in 2008 after attending a gay rights rally in Las Vegas, and the 46-year-old admits she spent years worrying about how to tell her mother and father the truth.

Sykes reveals she conquered her fear by making sure her parents were a “six-hour plane ride” away when she confessed her secret.

She tells Larry King, “I have parents who are still alive. So yeah … that’s why you suppress all that, you bury it, and to try to fit in. I’m 46. … My father’s in the service. Right, retired colonel. So (I told them in) a long-distance phone call. We’re talking, like, coast to coast. You always want to give your family like a six-hour plane ride before they can get to you.”

And Sykes admits her relatives are still coming to terms with the revelation.

She adds, “We’re working on it. … They love me. … I know without a doubt, my family, they love me. And you know, we’re working on it. Keep praying for us.”